French bank with Montreal office set to streamline operations in reaction to industry changes
FRENCH bank Credit Agricole, which has an office in Montreal, is set to refine its wealth management arm by bringing its global operations into one entity.
With a host of changes throughout the industry, the firm has taken the decision to unite its wealth management businesses which were previously spread across a number of subsidiaries and entities. Now, the businesses are set to be united using the name Indosuez Wealth Management: a reference to a 140-year-old bank which was acquired by the group back in 1996.
According to Patrick Ramsey, the head of wealth management for Indosuez, the idea is to create one brand and identity to allow them to approach clients in a more simplistic manner. He commented that clients are generally becoming more global in both their personal needs and their wealth creation – and so it is important for the company to offer efficiency in terms of its resource management.
“We can have stronger synergy of expertise between regions, so we don’t have to recreate capabilities for every market,” he said to The Strait Times.
“With global regulators becoming more strict and structured with requirements, the industry is under a greater pressure to maintain margins and managing cost of functioning.
“The truth is, this business is not about having more or less people. We have to have the right size for our business model, and the right use of resources, in order to cope with regulatory burden and the changing demand of our clientele.”
Under its new name, Indosuez Wealth Management will now have 30 offices across 14 countries with approximately 2,700 employees. It will not, however, have a Canadian base like its mother company – instead, it will be represented in the Americas in Miami, Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo.
With a host of changes throughout the industry, the firm has taken the decision to unite its wealth management businesses which were previously spread across a number of subsidiaries and entities. Now, the businesses are set to be united using the name Indosuez Wealth Management: a reference to a 140-year-old bank which was acquired by the group back in 1996.
According to Patrick Ramsey, the head of wealth management for Indosuez, the idea is to create one brand and identity to allow them to approach clients in a more simplistic manner. He commented that clients are generally becoming more global in both their personal needs and their wealth creation – and so it is important for the company to offer efficiency in terms of its resource management.
“We can have stronger synergy of expertise between regions, so we don’t have to recreate capabilities for every market,” he said to The Strait Times.
“With global regulators becoming more strict and structured with requirements, the industry is under a greater pressure to maintain margins and managing cost of functioning.
“The truth is, this business is not about having more or less people. We have to have the right size for our business model, and the right use of resources, in order to cope with regulatory burden and the changing demand of our clientele.”
Under its new name, Indosuez Wealth Management will now have 30 offices across 14 countries with approximately 2,700 employees. It will not, however, have a Canadian base like its mother company – instead, it will be represented in the Americas in Miami, Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo.
